I HAVE had a fair amount of correspondence about pensions, from teachers especially, following the report of ex Labour minister Lord Hutton. As I write, I still hope strike action can be averted. I do not believe it is in anybody’s interests and it will surely achieve nothing. However, I do understand the passions around public sector pensions, not least as I’m anticipating mine and there’s nothing like a bit of self-interest to concentrate the mind.

However, particularly at the most senior levels, people in the public sector enjoy benefits the general taxpayer can no longer afford especially as, in many cases, retirees might be drawing their pensions for almost as long as they have worked. That said, it is important that government listens to those who feel they would be disproportionately and inadvertently penalised by any changes, and that it is prepared to amend plans if necessary to ensure that they are as fair as possible.

* Lord Levene has delivered his proposals for reforming the lumbering Ministry of Defence. I fear there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the top brass as senior posts are culled. Central to Levene’s plans is his insistence the MoD must be streamlined and focused on joint operations.

He rightly identifies a central truth which has dogged UK defence for too long, namely that, left to their own devices, the three service chiefs will fight like cats and dogs for their slice of the action. Far better to concentrate on unified defence outputs and, for that to happen, the reporting chain needs to be joint, not single service.